Stelvideo, Ohio

In the line of improvements for the aid of settlers in building, there was a horse-mill on Hartell's farm. In connection therewith, was a still-house, the two being operated by Jacob Hartell in 1837 and 1838. There was another mill on the Hathaway farm, one mile southwest of Beamsville. This was a water mill. used only in grinding corn, and had sandstone " grayheads " for buhrs.- This mill was the property of Thomas Hathaway. The next mill was built as a saw-mill and remodeled into a grist-mill, at what was called Johnson's Station. The town. Dawn, was then designated Eden. The last-named mill was run by steam, and in it was used the first stationary steam engine used in the township. In addition to these, there was the u Bloomer Mill," located at Bloomer Town, now called Stelvideo. This structure was raised about the same time as the Eden mill during the years 1853 and 1854.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

Stelvideo, located near the center of the south line of Section !i. Range .'!. Township 11 (the same being part of the boundary between Richland and Adams). is a small village, numbering 100 inhabitants. It was laid out in 1851. by Solomon Farmer, the present owner of 125 acres of land adjoining on the east* This person is now the oldest living resident of this vicinity, and one of the oldest in Richland. A few lots have been laid off since the original platting by George Hartell, Jr., but they are not in demand. Stelvideo is a station on the Pittsburgh, Cincinnati & St. Louis Railroad, surrounded by a fine farming country, well cultivated and profitably productive. The population is composed mainly of the owners of adjacent or adjoining farms. Its origin is thus denoted : About the time when the "Forty-niners" were en route, overland, to the gold fields of the far Pacific. .John Patterson determined to realize his expectations nearer home. He had inherited a large farm, located east of Stelvideo.. There being promise of quite a village here. .Mr. Patterson bought a number of Lots, erected a steam sawmill, a two-Story tavern, and induced the erection of several other buildings. These improvements were made in 1852 and 1853. Through correspondence with Alfred Brisbane, S. Andrews. Dr. Nichols and other noted Socialists. Stelvideo soon became a center for modern radicalism of all kinds, save and except "free love.'' Meantime, the dress-reform movement was being agitated by Amelia Bloomer and other ladies. The costume was generally adopted by the feminine population of this village. So many isms and ologies, so much amplitude in freedom and brevity in costume was obnoxious to the people resident in the neighborhood, who proceeded to make Patterson and his confreres desirous of going elsewhere. The Pluribus Unum Hotel was vacated, several houses partially completed were left unfinished, the saw-mill and other property was disposed of at a sacrifice, and Mr. Patterson and his followers moved to Berlin Heights, in Huron County, where quite a colony of modern Liberalists of various phases assembled. They published a weekly newspaper, and, for a time, attracted popular attention.

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

The first house put up in the immediate vicinity of Stelvideo was by Jacob Hartell. The first schoolhouse near by was a small log structure which stood about fifteen yards east of the present brick house, on the Solomon Farmer place. The first Postmaster was Aaron Frampton. It is stated by Peter Brewer, who is the second oldest resident, that in the early days, the residents here were accustomed to go about sixteen miles to mill, to where the present Coppock Mill stands. Sometimes the trip was extended to near Milton, and on occasion to Union, not far from Dayton. The present smithy here was built as a carpentershop in 1866, by Peter Farmer ; it was later used as a dwelling, and was finally, April 15, 1876, utilized by the present ''village blacksmith," D. W. Inman, of whom it may be said :

Passage source: The History of Darke County, Ohio, Containing a History of the County; Its Cities, Towns, Etc.; General and Local Statistics; Portraits of Early Settlers and Prominent Men;, published 1880.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Richland Township - it names this place 1 more 1 time.